Now we’re seeing another significant player in a similar move, as Toronto-based Sysomos is acquired by news wire service Marketwire.

First reported by the Startup North blog, the news was later confirmed by Sysomos, although their blog comment and tweet have both since been deleted. So, while this is still – for now – a rumour, given that these confirmations were initially posted by the company (I saw the blog comment before its removal), I’m inclined to believe the reports and that a formal announcement is imminent.

Audience – a sales- and marketing-focused tool to help measure ROI and optimize marketing and community engagement

Sysomos has been noticeable in recent months with a series of smart awareness-driving tactics. In fact, they were featured in the New York Times just a day before this news. They’ve also made some interesting moves towards drawing a line between social media activity and business results with the introduction of their Audience product. It’ll be interesting to see whether/how Marketwire plans to factor this into its product lineup.

This particular acquisition is particularly interesting, as the acquisition is by a company on the “traditional media” side of the fence. This should help Marketwire to more effectively compete with wire services such as PR Newswire (in the US) and CNW Group (in Canada), which already feature monitoring solutions:

Strengthens existing monitoring services
While PR Newswire already offers a social media monitoring service, Marketwire’s monitoring offerings are currently more limited. With social media monitoring being a common “toe in the water” for many companies as they experiment with social media, this service is becoming a must-have for traditional monitoring companies.

Strong analytics

Monitoring solutions by themselves are useful, but the “clippings-style” approach to social media monitoring is really just the beginning. By acquiring a solution that allows users to do a deep dive on online conversations, Marketwire is adding a useful tool to its arsenal, and one that it doesn’t just need to white-label from other providers.

User-friendly interface

Sysomos offers one of the most user-friendly web interfaces of the monitoring providers – a big bonus for less tech-savvy clients.

I’m looking forward to more information on this move soon, and to monitoring further activity in this space over coming months.

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